Little Pink Starfish

The two continued forward, and before long, they reached the final boss.

Pei Sen wasn’t in the best mood—he recognized this boss too and just wanted to get it over with and go back quickly. Who knew how much crazier those rumors would get if they delayed.

“It’s Palta, the son of Mayor Soan from Arzi Town,” Eagle suddenly said. “I met him once.”

The final boss of this dungeon was a young swordsman with slightly wavy brown hair and an average appearance, but he carried himself with a bit of arrogant pride.

Pei Sen took a glance. This Palta was a true third-rank swordsman, unlike Vargo who had been weakened by his injury.
But the difference was, Vargo before his injury had been quite powerful—stronger than Palta. Palta belonged to the weaker side of third-rank swordsmen, likely due to lack of real combat experience. After all, as a mayor’s son, he had no need to face life-and-death battles.

Even though Pei Sen was in a rush, he still approached the boss carefully. He knew that if something happened to him, there was no way Eagle and the little cat could clear the dungeon on their own. He was aiming for the first clear—he couldn’t afford to fail now.

Eagle stood behind him and raised his hand. A faint white glow appeared briefly, then faded.

After all this time, Eagle had already realized how weak apprentice-level spells were. Take Ice Blade, for example—his apprentice-grade spell was nothing compared to Pei Sen’s. Unless it was a finishing blow, it was nearly useless in actual combat. Especially now, when Pei Sen was focusing on slowing Palta with Freeze and then dealing damage with Ice Arrow and Ice Blade, Eagle’s contribution was very limited—especially since Palta was wearing armor.

To control magic accurately and hit targets effectively, training was essential.
And Eagle hadn’t been studying magic long enough.

“I need to help Pei Sen somehow…”

He watched Palta’s sword aura leave a shallow cut on Pei Sen and anxiously tried to recall passages from the theology books he had secretly taken.

Unlike magic, many Light divine arts were written directly into those theology texts.
While mages hoarded their spellbooks, the clergy of the Church—priests and paladins alike—did not. But divine arts were fundamentally different from magic. Without a connection to the Light, you could study divine arts your whole life and make zero progress.

Magic required innate magical talent, a gift from birth.
Divine arts were different. According to Atwell, the priests of the Church gained divine powers not through talent, but through deep, unwavering faith in the Light.

It still required a certain disposition, but it wasn’t the same kind of “talent,” and it wasn’t unchangeable.

The Church used this as a way to draw in new believers. In their sermons and scriptures, they didn’t hide divine knowledge.
But most followers would go their whole lives without ever casting a single divine spell. That distant, almost illusory threshold was even harder to grasp than magical talent.

Eagle had read theology books but had never attempted to cast divine spells. When he learned divine arts required belief in the God of Light, he gave up disappointed—because he didn’t believe. Even though Atwell often tried to convert him.

But now—at this very moment—Eagle was stunned to find that he could somehow touch the Light necessary for divine casting.

He was confused. According to Atwell and the Church, one had to believe to use divine arts, right?
But… I don’t believe in the Light God. So why can I touch the Light?

“Whatever. If it helps Pei Sen, that’s all that matters!”

A gentle, pure Healing Light descended onto Pei Sen. The wounds on his body visibly closed before their eyes.
This was standard divine healing!

Pei Sen flinched in shock and looked toward Eagle—almost getting slashed by Palta in the process.

“Young Master…”

That was divine magic! Not the magic he had taught Eagle before!

Magical skills required step-by-step study. Divine arts, however, seemed to vary greatly based on the caster. While the spell name might remain the same—Healing Light, for example—the version from an average priest and that of a high priest could differ drastically in strength.

Eagle’s Healing Light was… not just strong—it was insanely strong!

Pei Sen felt a chill. Before his transmigration, he had played the game and seen priest players, rare as pandas.
In Bix Magic Cube, healing support wasn’t usually necessary—even in dungeons, most players handled healing with bandages, potions, or even holy water. Clerics? Luxury! No one could afford to “keep” a priest.

As for wild priest players? Forget it. They were rarer than wild pandas. Most players had never seen one.

Of course, it was better than nothing. But to actually become a true priest? Well… the ones who did often had a few screws loose.

Pei Sen had experienced divine healing before, from a pampered Level-80 priest sponsored by a large guild.
But even that priest’s healing… was nothing compared to Eagle’s.

One Healing Light—and all his injuries were completely gone!

This level of healing was terrifying!

Eagle, on the other hand, was overjoyed. “It really worked! Pei Sen, I can cast divine spells! Don’t worry—I didn’t let Atwell notice. I knew it would be suspicious if I suddenly showed interest in the Church, so I secretly borrowed the book from a priest. No one saw me take it!”

The priests often preached and gave out books to the literate servants, but nobles usually weren’t interested. Eagle had gotten his hands on one quietly.

Pei Sen: “…”

The issue isn’t the book, Young Master.
You don’t even believe in the Light God—how are you casting divine magic?! This doesn’t make sense!

Or… maybe it does. In the original timeline of Bix Magic Cube, Eagle later became the Son of Light, also called the Divine Child of the Church.
But by then, he had already gone blind, and his personality had completely changed.

Pei Sen had assumed that something terrible would happen at Golden Rose Manor, and Eagle would be rescued by Atwell and taken into the Church.
There, he would develop faith, gain divine power, and—thanks to his innate potential—rise to become the Divine Child.

But now…

Pei Sen glanced at Eagle’s glowing, excited face.
It seemed like Eagle had been born capable of wielding divine power. Even without faith.

Under the care of this walking, overpowered healer, Pei Sen quickly sped up the battle.
In just a few minutes, Palta fell, leaving behind a metallic treasure chest.

Turns out, having a healer is kind of awesome.

Ding! Player “Pure Mage” has cleared the dungeon “Slave Trader’s Cave” for the first time. Reward: EXP +2000, First Clear Treasure Chest x1.

It was a server-wide announcement.
Yes—Pei Sen had used a name change card to conceal his identity as a player. Bix Magic Cube didn’t have a cash shop, but during early character creation, a lot of players made hideous faces without realizing it. Once in-game, they panicked.

As a result, the devs gave every existing account a free name change card and makeover card.

That’s right—the cosmetic card was literally called a “Makeover Card,” and players often joked: “Plastic surgery changes lives—even in games!”
Each card could only be used once per account. But unlike in most games, they were tradeable.

Pei Sen had already sold his makeover card, but the name change card hadn’t sold—because ugly faces were harder to endure than bad names.
Luckily, he still had it.

However, Pei Sen realized that the name change only affected the player panel. His NPC panel still listed his name as “Pei Sen.”

Players who saw the server announcement were stunned—and their reactions fell into two groups:

“Wait, this game really has dungeons?” said players like Claude, who had no idea there were even dungeons in the game.

“Ugh, someone beat us to it…” said players like BraisedSpicySnack and the Designer, who had been actively looking for dungeons and wanted the first clear.

The Designer looked thoughtful. “This message is interesting.”

“And the player name is hilarious,” said TuTuDraws, laughing. “‘Pure Mage’? There aren’t even any mage players yet!”

“Wait, could this dungeon really be that easy? Can one player solo it?” asked the Architect, confused.

After all, only one player ID had been listed.

But the Designer smiled. “Don’t you find it strange? No one seems to know this ‘Pure Mage.’ There are even posts on the forum asking who it is. If it’s not some super famous player, then it must be a total lone wolf.”

“So which is it?”
“The second one,” said the Designer.

Because even the most popular players couldn’t go completely unnoticed.
If no one had heard of this person, they were clearly someone who never mingled with the rest of the playerbase.

“That means,” the Designer analyzed, “this is a player who hasn’t participated in any of the current faction missions. They’re probably doing quests through other means, and they managed to discover the dungeon that way.”

TuTuDraws was intrigued. “This game is so open-ended—it’s really fun.”

“Exactly,” the Designer nodded, glancing around the surrounding landscape. While they were originally searching for Count Eagle and his steward, they had already wandered far from Casey City and Golden Rose Manor. They hadn’t found the targets, but off in the distance, they spotted a brand-new city.

“I’ve been wondering,” the Designer mused, “this game doesn’t seem to load maps at all—or maybe it hides the loading process. Just how big is the world?”

He was starting to think he didn’t want to go back to doing quests and storylines. Instead, he wanted to explore this seemingly endless world and find its boundaries.

The only downside? The game currently only had one respawn point—in Casey City. If he traveled too far and died, he’d have to start all over. That thought alone was enough to make him feel frustrated.

“Forget it. Not a good time right now. I’ll go when I’ve leveled up more,” the Designer said decisively. From what he could tell, the world of this game wasn’t exactly peaceful, and he didn’t know enough about it yet. If he died just from wandering too far, that’d be a massive waste of time.

Back with the rest of the players—who had originally been scouring the map for Pei Sen and Eagle—everyone’s attention had now shifted to the newly revealed dungeon. People were chatting excitedly:

“Where’s the dungeon?”
“I wanna grind it! I need levels!”
“Dungeons drop gear and skill books, right? I’ve been in this game for ages and haven’t learned a single new skill!”
“Yeah, NPCs are so stingy.”
“I followed Kemis around for a whole month, and he still wouldn’t teach me anything.”
“…”

If Kemis were here, he’d probably cry out: I’m doing my best, okay!?

At that moment, Pei Sen and Eagle had already been teleported out of the dungeon. With the final boss defeated, the illusion crystal shattered. They now stood safely outside Arzi Town, right where they had first entered the dungeon.

Pei Sen looked back and saw the remnants of the shimmering dungeon crystal slowly dissipating.

“Let’s hurry back, Young Master,” he said.
“Mm,” Eagle nodded.

They didn’t enter Arzi Town. From a distance, Pei Sen saw players wandering nearby. He guided Eagle away in a slight detour to avoid them. But they hadn’t gone far before they saw a large force of manor guards riding in, led by none other than Sadin, who wore a dark expression.

At first, Pei Sen didn’t realize what was going on—then it hit him. He looked down at the cat trotting obediently by their side.

Pecks blinked innocently.
Why are you staring at me? I didn’t do anything! I even walked the whole way—didn’t ask to be carried!

As Eagle’s pet cat, Pecks was fairly well-known. And even though Pei Sen and Eagle were wearing inconspicuous cloaks, the cat refused to go into the pet interface, exposing them instantly.

In the blink of an eye, Sadin and the guards surrounded them. Pei Sen felt his heart start to race.

Some players had been quietly tailing the manor guards. When they saw the guards seemed to have found someone, reports were instantly posted to the forum. Soon, even more players began heading in their direction.

Pei Sen’s heart pounded harder—
Caught red-handed. This time for real.

Eagle, however, remained perfectly calm. He stepped forward and removed his hood. His golden hair gleamed under the sun. A nearby player gasped, “Wow… no matter how many times I see him, Count Eagle is still stunningly beautiful…”

Sadin stared at Eagle. “Young Master, you’re being too reckless.”

Eagle smiled lightly. “Reckless, is that what you call it?”

“You left the manor without permission—”

“Sadin, let me ask you a question,” Eagle looked up at him—Sadin didn’t even bother dismounting his horse. “Are youthe lord of this land?”

Sadin frowned.

“I thought I was the lord. But now it seems I’m not. You are, Sadin. That’s why I have to look up at you. That’s why, if I want to go anywhere, I have to ask you for permission,” Eagle’s voice was laced with irony. “Sadin, I’m fifteen now. I’m of age.”

Sadin finally dismounted. “Young Master, I—”

“No need to tell me you’re doing it for my own good, for my safety,” Eagle said with a cold smile. “I just wanted to inspect my lands. And yet, here you are, treating me like a runaway criminal.”

Sadin looked pained. “Young Master, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Eagle pointed toward Arzi Town. “Look at it. That’s my Arzi Town. But I don’t even recognize it. I heard Mayor Soan’s been ill for years—that’s why he hasn’t visited me. Arzi’s tax payments haven’t changed in years. In my eyes, it’s still a poor backwater village. If I hadn’t asked Pei Sen to bring me out here to see it with my own eyes, I would’ve never known it had changed.”

The surroundings fell into utter silence—even the players were stunned.
Something about the atmosphere felt… off.

“Sadin, don’t tell me you didn’t know about Arzi’s transformation.” Eagle’s voice softened, but it was no less pointed. “Of course you knew. After all, you’re more like the lord of Lano than I am. On this land, there’s nothing you don’t know. They dare lie to me—but not to you.”

Sadin said nothing. It was true—he had known. But unless it concerned Eagle directly, he rarely paid much attention. He hadn’t thought it was worth worrying about.

Eagle sighed. “If I had asked you to let me inspect my territory, would you have agreed? Of course not. You’d say it’s too dangerous out there. The only place I’m ever ‘allowed’ to go is Casey City. Anywhere else? Out of the question.”

The guards behind Sadin were also beginning to realize something. They glanced at him uneasily. In hindsight, it did seem like Sadin acted more like the real lord than the young count.

“I’m supposed to be the lord of Lano. But how many people here actually listen to me?” Eagle continued. “They follow your orders, or Kesso’s, or Mary’s. When it comes to me—they never openly disobey, but they never really listen either.”

He smiled. “Sadin, you’ve all done such a good job these past years.”

Suddenly, Eagle bent down and took off his boots—luxurious, high-end shoes made from magical beast leather. They were beautifully crafted and absurdly expensive, a favorite among Esmia’s nobility. But they were stiff and uncomfortable—especially for long walks. They were the kind of shoes nobles wore just to look elegant, not to actually walk in.

This pair, though, was one of the few outdoor pairs that fit him fairly well.

Even so, after walking for just over an hour, his feet were covered in painful blisters. The once-soft, pale skin was now bloodied and torn.

“You’re all like these shoes,” Eagle said quietly, barefoot on the grass. “Beautiful, luxurious… but inside that gilded cage, I can’t move. If I so much as shift a little, the result is pain and blood.”

That manor? It was nothing more than a golden prison. Just like those boots.

Wearing them, all he could do was sit still. Walk too far, and it became unbearable.

That wasn’t because he was delicate—he could bear the pain. In fact, now that he had taken the boots off, he felt much better.

His feet still hurt—but it didn’t matter. He finally felt free.

But the existence of Golden Rose Manor, and of Sadin and those guards—meant he’d never be allowed to take those shoes off.

Sadin couldn’t stay quiet anymore. “Young Master, if you really want to inspect your lands, I’ll accompany you personally.”

“And then what?” Eagle asked. “I’ll see a frail Soan and a neglected Arzi? Or maybe… will you dare show me that Vargo is still alive?”

His voice rose sharply.

Sadin froze. “Vargo?”
He honestly didn’t know about that.

“How interesting,” Eagle sneered. “The man I ordered executed for attempted assassination is alive and well, mingling with slavers. Isn’t that just fascinating, Sadin?”

Sadin was speechless.

Eagle walked toward the carriage waiting to take him back. “Come on, Pei Sen. As prisoners, we should act the part. We’ve been caught—might as well go back quietly.”

His tone was calm. But Sadin looked extremely troubled.

He had come to apprehend the boy—but Eagle had turned it around on him completely.

Eagle got into the carriage. As Pei Sen followed, Sadin stopped him.

“You shouldn’t have brought the Young Master outside. It’s too dangerous. With your strength, you can’t protect him.”

Pei Sen snorted internally.
So now you’re blaming me? What, because I’m easier to bully?

“I’m not like you people,” Pei Sen said coldly, sweeping his eyes over the guards and Sadin. “To me, no one is more important than the Young Master. Whatever he asks, I’ll do. His orders are the only ones I follow. Dangerous? The manor’s not exactly safe, is it? I’m sure you’ve caught quite a few of Viscount Frey’s men by now.”

“Golden Rose Manor—protection or prison? You know the answer better than anyone.”

“You guards are no different. In your eyes, Sadin, Kesso, and Ichabod’s orders matter more than the Young Master’s, don’t they?”

“But for me, I’ve only ever had one master.”

“Count Eagle Lano.”

Inside the carriage, Eagle leaned against the door, lips curved into a smile.

In his green eyes, a soft warmth shimmered.